1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of agricultural machines including automated robots and vehicles and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus for processing livestock litter to neutralize undesirable conditions in an automated fashion.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
In the art of agriculture where it pertains to livestock, such as poultry for example, efforts are underway to establish better guidelines and methods for processing litter and bedding such as on a farm supporting commercial livestock operations. Bedding and or litter conditions that may be undesirable for the animals kept in relatively tight quarters may arise and may, in some cases, cause harm to animals contributing to poorer health and production of such animals.
Typical machines used for processing poultry are employed by workers and are typically pushed along or pulled through the litter in order to neutralize the specific conditions found. The conditions themselves are difficult to monitor and compensate for as some of these conditions are not readily detectable by the average worker. It is desired that many litter processing tasks be performed without requirement of human labor and constant site monitoring in order to quickly evaluate conditions and whether treatments were effective.
Therefore, what is clearly needed is self-guided agro tilling machines that may sense, evaluate and treat specific undesired conditions that may occur in the litter and bedding of animals such as poultry.